Intermittent corticosteroid maintenance treatment of psoriasis: a double-blind multicenter trial of augmented betamethasone dipropionate ointment in a pulse dose treatment regimen.

Ninety psoriasis patients, who were either completely cleared of or manifested only a minimal presence of disease signs following 3-4 weeks of twice daily treatment with augmented betamethasone dipropionate (ABD) ointment 0.05%, were enrolled in this multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. The study was designed to determine if an intermittent pulse dose regimen of ABD ointment could safely and effectively maintain a remission disease status when treatment was applied in three consecutive applications 12 h apart, once a week for a maximum treatment period of 6 months. The disease of 60% of the patients in the active treatment group was successfully controlled for 6 months, while 80% of the placebo-treated patients experienced exacerbation of disease signs. No serious local or systemic treatment-related adverse experiences were reported. ABD ointment 0.05%, when applied using the intermittent treatment regimen described here, was shown to be a clinically beneficial and well-tolerated method of long-term (up to 6 months) maintenance therapy for psoriasis patients.